1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, by which adhesive forces between coating objects and the electromagnetic wave shielding films are strengthened, and the films can be uniformly coated on the coating objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, electromagnetic waves are actively utilized in various fields including an electric field, an electronic field, a communication field, a computer-related medical field, etc., and the fields utilizing the electromagnetic waves show a tendency to greatly increase. Further, according to recent progress in the semiconductor field, digitalization is rapidly progressed in such fields as the fields of home appliances, industrial appliances, and medical appliances, in order to enable the appliances to be miniaturized, to be light, and to have a high reliability. This digitalization also increases the utilization of the electromagnetic waves.
The electromagnetic waves cause various problems, and these problems are more aggravated in these days due to the increased utilization of electromagnetic waves as described above. In more detailed description, the electromagnetic waves can cause video display terminal (VDT) syndrome, abnormal secretion of hormones due to the disturbance of the flow of Na+ and Ka+ ions, cancer, etc., in humans. Moreover, the electromagnetic waves can cause wrong operation of electronic appliances that can be fatal especially in a system such as an airplane. Therefore, there has been an urgent necessity to overcome the above problems by shielding electromagnetic waves.
Among a variety of methods for shielding electromagnetic waves, the most commonly used are a spraying method in which a solution of a shielding metal is spray-coated onto coating objects and a plating method in which coating objects are plated in a plating bath by electroless plating.
However, the used methods as described above have various problems as follows. First, in the spraying method and in the plating method, since the task of forming electromagnetic wave shielding films is performed in the atmosphere, the shielding films coated on the coating objects have a considerably weak adhesion force. Further, the coated thickness of the shielding films and the density of the coated particles are not uniform, which makes the adhesion force be further weakened and sets a limit in improving the shielding effect.
Second, since almost all of the process is manually performed, it is nearly impossible to produce products of the same dimensions and characteristics in mass-production manner.
Third, safety is not guaranteed for workers when the spray task is performed. In addition, a large expense is required for processing sewage created by the industrial water used in the electroless plating.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the related art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, by which the problems of the prior art as described above are overcome.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, by which adhesive forces between coating objects and the electromagnetic wave shielding films are strengthened, and the films can be uniformly coated on the coating objects.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, by which products of the same dimensions and characteristic can be produced in a mass-production manner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, by which safety for workers is guaranteed and the labor is performed through dry steps of the process so as to generate no pollution.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, the method comprising the steps of:
loading a plurality of coating objects in a rotating jig having a cylindrical shape; and
coating electromagnetic wave shielding films on the coating objects by means of sputtering while rotating the rotating jig.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, the method comprising the steps of:
etching surfaces of coating objects; and
coating electromagnetic wave shielding films on the surfaces of the etched coating objects.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for coating electromagnetic wave shielding films, the apparatus comprising:
a cylindrical chamber having a door at a front face of the chamber and a plurality of pumps disposed at both sides of the chamber;
a cylindrical rotating jig disposed in the chamber, the rotating jig having a plurality of coating objects loaded in the rotating jig;
means for rotating the rotating jig at a predetermined speed, said rotating means being disposed at a back side of the rotating jig;
means for moving the rotating jig to be put into and drawn out of the chamber so as to load and unload the coating objects in and out of the rotating jig, said moving means being disposed under the rotating jig;
targets disposed inside and outside of the rotating jig, the targets functioning as cathodes; and
a controller for controlling operation of the apparatus, the controller being disposed at one side of the chamber.